Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 281 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
November 22, 2014
SATURDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Police investigate death of prominent businessman ‘Person of interest’ being sought by authorities BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
Roswell Police are currently trying to locate a person of interest in connection with the death of a prominent Roswell business man who died at his home on Friday morning. David Duer, 42, of Roswell, was found inside his house, located in the 2600 block of Sherrill Lane shortly before 5 a.m. on
Friday. He was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police were called soon after to assist the medics, and police began their investigation after Duer was declared dead. Police are calling it a “suspicious death.” The cause of death is yet to be determined, but investigators do not believe a firearm was used, according to a news release from
the Roswell Police Department.
Police are conducting the ongoing investigation in the same manner and with the same standards that are used in a homicide investigation, according to a news release issued by the Roswell Police Department Friday afternoon. “Any suspicious death is handled as a potential homicide to ensure a thorough and complete investigation is
done,” according to the release. Duer was president of Century 21 Home Planning in Roswell. He was also a for mer executive board member for the Roswell Chamber of Commerce, and he served on the board of directors of United Way of Chaves County. “I don’t have the words,” said Candace Lewis, office See DUER, Page A3
Altrusa donates supplies to Sunset Elementary
Submitted Photo
Members of Altrusa International of Roswell Inc. donated various items for Sunset Elementary School’s annual Reading Night held Nov. 20 for students and parents. Members delivered 60 New Mexico Military Institute T-shirts in various sizes, 58 NMMI book bags, 194 “I LOVE READING” pencils, 157 Altrusa bookmarks, 120 erasers and 165 sets of flash cards. Pictured from left: Altrusans Joan Blodgett, Jackie Gooch, Emily Montgomery, Claudette Foster, Loriann Ordonez, social worker Stacey Ennis and Sunset Elementary Secretary Brenda Lozano.
No charges likely in veteran shooting
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — An Albuquerque man who police said fatally shot his black Iraq War veteran neighbor — a shooting that some civil rights advocates later compared to the slaying of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin — likely won’t face charges. Second Judicial District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Thursday the state attorney general’s office and New Mexico State Police both have reviewed the shooting death of Jonathan Mitchell, 24, and agreed with her agency that no charges should be filed. “Obviously, it’s a tragedy for everyone involved,” Brandenburg said. “But we’ve all agreed that this would not be an easy case to prosecute.” Authorities say Mitchell
was shot by neighbor Donnie Pearson during what Pearson described as an exchange of gunfire. Pearson told investigators Mitchell shot at him and his 15-yearold son. Mitchell’s family claimed Pearson drove up to Mitchell’s garage and shot him in his front yard. Video taken from an Albuquerque police helicopter showed Mitchell firing first in an exchange of gunfire with Pearson. The video also revealed that Pearson’s SUV drove up to Mitchell’s garage. Albuquerque police later said investigators didn’t have probable cause to charge Pearson. The decision not to seek charges comes after civil rights groups demanded an investigation into the shooting.
Brandenburg said Mitchell’s family asked for the review from state officials.
Albuquerque chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have disputed Pearson’s version and said he instigated the confrontation. They also suggested race may have been a factor and have compared it to the shooting death of Martin. George Zimmerman told police he shot Martin only after the African-American teenager physically attacked him. Martin’s family and supporters say Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, marked Martin as a potential criminal because he was black.
Director of LANL denies lab hid facts on leak at WIPP Duer
Mendenhall
SANTA FE (AP) — The head of Los Alamos National Laboratory is denouncing a published report that exposed missteps at the lab that played a part in a radiation leak at the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository. Lab director Charlie McMillian sent a memo to employees earlier this week, dismissing suggestions that the lab was withholding scientific theories about the Feb. 14 accident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. “I want to assure you that nothing is further from the truth,” he said in the memo, obtained by The Santa Fe New Mexican. McMillian was taking aim at the newspaper’s initial report, which was based on interviews and thousands of documents and emails obtained under the Freedom of Infor mation Act. Some of the emails that were uncovered expressed
outrage from WIPP officials about what they weren’t told by Los Alamos lab. The report also addressed efforts to downplay the dangers of waste from Los Alamos that had been sent to WIPP. Greg Mello, executive director of the watchdog Los Alamos Study Group, read the emails and voiced concern that the lab wasn’t as forthcoming with WIPP or the Energy Department as McMillian’s memo suggested. “LANL openness standards are so opaque that secrecy is normal,” Mello said. It was a canister of waste from Los Alamos that leaked in one of WIPP’s storage rooms in February, contaminating 22 workers and forcing the indefinite closure of the nuclear waste repository. Cleaning up the waste See WIPP, Page A3
Burson helps ALCC with backpacks Submitted Photo
Members of the Assis-
tance League of Chaves
County were filling back-
packs for their newest philanthropic program this week.
The backpacks will be
given to the homeless in the Roswell area through the Salvation Army.
Pictured are, from left,
Lynn Allensworth, ALCC president, Jessica Burson, and Penny Thigpen.
Gov. Martinez denounces Boehner: ‘We will not stand idle’ on immigration WASHINGTON (AP) — grants who are in the coun- trying to fight his moves leaders wanted to avoid. Obama’s immigration move House through the budget With Republicans seething Speaker John try illegally. ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez, the country’s only Latina governor, is denouncing President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. The Republican said in a statement Thursday she was disappointed with his move and that he should have tried one more time to work with Congress to tackle the issue. Martinez said the executive action didn’t reflect
“good common-senses” and was not “an act of compassion.”
She said the move was an “invitation to further law-breaking” and didn’t address the systemic issues along the border. Earlier this week, Martinez published an opinion piece in the Washington Times calling on Congress to act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
HIGH 69 LOW 36
TODAY’S FORECAST
Boehner declared Friday that President Barack Obama was “damaging the presidency” with his unilateral action on immigration. He said the Republican-run House will not stand by, but gave no hint of what the response would be. “I will say to you, the House will, in fact, act,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a news conference the morning after Obama announced plans to offer deportation relief and work permits to 5 million immi-
“We will listen to the American people, we will work with our members and we will work to protect the Constitution of the United States,” Boehner said. But Republicans have few good options as they scramble for a solution that satisfies irate conservatives without alienating moderates, Hispanics and other voters who will be crucial for the 2016 presidential election. Possibilities include suing Obama or
• MARIA GUADALUPE “LUPE” RODRIGUEZ TODAY’S OBITUARY PAGE A6
process. The situation poses a major challenge for Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., barely two weeks after midterm election victories that handed Republicans control of the Senate and increased the party’s majority in the House. Obama’s move forces them to inaugurate their newly minted congressional majorities amid frantic GOP infighting that party CLASSIFIEDS ..........B4 COMICS .................A7 ENTERTAINMENT ...A10 FINANCIAL ..............B3
over Obama’s go-it-alone approach on such a contentious issue, it’s an open question whether Boehner and McConnell will be able to rein in the tea party faction in Congress that forced a politically damaging government shutdown a year ago over the president’s health care law. The answer will have major implications in determining whether the GOP can hang onto its newfound See IMMIGRATION, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .......A10
LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A10